ML25143A020
| ML25143A020 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Kemmerer File:TerraPower icon.png |
| Issue date: | 06/18/2025 |
| From: | Doub J NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ETRB1 |
| To: | US Dept of Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service |
| References | |
| Download: ML25143A020 (1) | |
Text
E-MAIL ONLY U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office 334 Parsley Blvd Cheyenne, WY 82007-4178
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR CONCURRENCE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT DETERMINATIONS FOR THE KEMMERER POWER STATION UNIT 1 CONSTRUCTION PERMIT APPLICATION IN LINCOLN COUNTY, WYOMING (IPAC PROJECT CODE 2024-0079279) (DOCKET NUMBER 50-613)
Dear Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office:
By letter dated March 28, 2024, TerraPower, LLC (TerraPower), on behalf of US SFR Owner, LLC (USO), a wholly owned subsidiary of TerraPower, submitted an application to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction permit (CP) pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities, that would allow the construction of a Natrium advanced reactor at a site in Lincoln County, Wyoming, designated as Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 (Kemmerer Unit 1).
With this letter, the NRC requests, pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), and Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR) Part 402, Interagency CooperationEndangered Species Act of 1973, as Amended, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) written concurrence with the NRC staffs determinations that issuance of the CP is not likely to adversely affect (NLAA) multiple listed/proposed to be listed species.
This letter includes information explaining and supporting this request.
Proposed Federal Action The proposed Federal action is for the NRC to decide whether to issue a CP to USO under 10 CFR Part 50 that would allow the construction of Kemmerer Unit 1. The issuance of a CP by the NRC is a separate licensing action from the issuance of an operating license (OL), which would allow for the operation of facilities built pursuant to a CP. The NRC would communicate with your office again in the future when reviewing an OL application for Kemmerer Unit 1, if one is submitted and should consultation under Section 7 be required for that review.
USO plans to build, demonstrate, and operate Kemmerer Unit 1 to enhance grid reliability and ultimately replace electricity generation capacity in the service area if PacifiCorp chooses to retire existing coal-fired facilities. The Kemmerer Unit 1 site encompasses approximately 290 acres in Lincoln County, Wyoming, approximately 3 miles (mi) south of the City of Kemmerer, Wyoming, and approximately 3.8 mi southeast of the existing Naughton Power Plant, which comprises two coal units (Naughton 1 and 2) and one natural gas unit (Naughton 3). Kemmerer Unit 1 would demonstrate an advanced reactor that uses liquid sodium as the coolant instead of water. The proposed facilities would house one 840 megawatt thermal pool-type sodium fast reactor connected to a molten salt energy storage system that enables variable energy supply up to 500 megawatts electric net.
June 18, 2025
Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office To connect the onsite Kemmerer Unit 1 substation to the regional electrical transmission infrastructure at Naughton Power Plant, two new 5.9 mi-long 230-kilovolt transmission lines would need to be constructed. Of the new infrastructure, 4.1 mi would be part of a common right-of-way (ROW) with the water supply pipeline described in the next paragraph. The transmission lines would include steel towers using current design codes and electrical clearances. The foundations for the towers would be configured to use concrete and to avoid placing footings in aquatic environments and culturally sensitive areas. Additional laydown areas of 400 feet (ft) by 400 ft would be used at the ends of transmission line segments during construction.
To connect the Kemmerer Unit 1 facilities to the existing raw water settling basin at the Naughton Power Plant, there would be construction of a new 6 mi water supply pipeline. The pipeline construction easement would be 50 ft wide. The pipeline construction easement would include sufficient space for temporary trench spoil storage and equipment parking. Most of the pipeline would be installed underground using open cut trench excavation techniques. For rail and road crossings, and locations where aquatic resources or culturally sensitive areas occur, horizontal directional drilling would be used to minimize disturbance to sensitive resources.
Maps depicting the Kemmerer Unit 1 site and the ROWs for the transmission lines and the water supply pipeline are included in the document discussed next.
Draft Environmental Impact Statement In support of its environmental review of the proposed Federal action, the NRC staff has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) addressing the potential environmental impacts from the construction of Kemmerer Unit 1 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25154A651).
Biological Assessment The NRC staff determined that the proposed Federal action constitutes a major construction activity and, therefore, has prepared a biological assessment evaluating the potential effects of the action on resources protected under the ESA, specifically, those resources identified in an Official Species List dated April 10, 2025, obtained by the NRC staff from the FWS Information for Planning and Consulting (IPaC) database (FWS Project Code 2024-0079279; ML25154A112). This biological assessment is presented as Appendix G to the draft EIS.
As noted in Tables 3-7 and 3-8 of the draft EIS and in Table G-1 of the biological assessment, the NRC staff determined that the proposed Federal action would have no effect on four listed species identified in the Official Species List and is NLAA five additional listed/proposed to be listed species. Ecologists on the NRC staff reached these determinations following a careful review of information in the Kemmerer Unit 1 CP application as well as other relevant information.
Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office Request for NLAA Concurrence The NRC staff requests your written concurrence with its determinations in the draft EIS and the biological assessment that the proposed action is NLAA the five listed/proposed to be listed species. Please provide your response electronically to the following email addresses:
EndangeredSpecies@nrc.gov and Peyton.Doub@nrc.gov.
Comments on the draft EIS may be submitted to the NRC electronically using the email address TerraPowerEnvironmental@nrc.gov. If you have any questions regarding the information in this letter, please contact me by phone at (301) 415-6703 or via email at Peyton.Doub@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, J. Peyton Doub, PWS, CEP Environmental Technical Review Branch 1 Division of Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No.: 50-613 cc:
- 1. TerraPower Environmental Unit 1 via GovDelivery
- 2. G. Applegate, DOE (gretchen.applegate@ee.doe.gov)
Signed by Doub, Joseph on 06/18/25
ML25143A020 OFFICE REFS:CB REFS:LA REFS:PM OGC:NLO REFS:BC REFS:CB NAME PDoub MCampestrin PVokoun JWachutka MRome PDoub DATE 5/23/2025 5/29/2025 6/02/2025 6/05/2025 6/09/2025 6/18/2025